Hi, this is Debbie Boyles, coach at Mojo for Running with podcast number 59.

Your first marathon, part four. Race week, race day, and recovery. First, let's talk about the week before your race.

Be careful to eat a healthy diet, which I hope is the norm anyway. Don't believe the hype about doing a lot of carb loading.

Do change your proportions in favor of more carbs the last few days, but don't overeat.

Remember, you're tapering.

So if you overeat, you'll just pack on a couple of extra pounds and you'll feel it on race day.

During the last few days,

be especially careful to get plenty of rest. And speaking of rest, first time marathoners

always worry about not getting adequate sleep the night before marathon. As your race gets close,

it will help you to have realistic expectations. And realistically, a good night's sleep, the night before marathon, is extremely unlikely.

When you were a kid, how well did you sleep on Christmas Eve?

Or the night before the first day of Hanukkah?

Or the night before the first day of school.

You get the point.

Don't worry about this. Seriously. I don't know

any marathoner, no matter how experienced, who sleeps soundly the night before a race. I would say,

on average, most people get four to five hours of sleep the night before, and it's not nearly

the kind of deep sleep they'd like it to be. That's just because

everyone, no matter how experienced, is too keyed up the night before a big race. Even if you get

to bed early, which of course you absolutely must do, and which certainly is within your control,

you can't control the fact that you're excited and likely a bit anxious about the next day.

And depending on the marathon, you may be setting your alarm clock at 4 a.m. or even earlier.

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